The White House calls on Congress to pass a law allowing immigrant children to be held for more than 20 days
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had a little trouble explaining how President Trump's administration plans to move forward with its zero tolerance immigration policy.
The Trump administration is figuring out how it can prosecute immigrants without violating the Flores settlement, which prohibits child migrants from being detained for more than 20 days. Sanders confirmed that the Pentagon is helping provide space for tens of thousands of migrant children to be detained on military bases, but she cast responsibility for the legal dilemma aside.
"The law says you can't keep the children, even with parents, for longer than 20 days," one White House reporter said. "So then what happens?"
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Rather than explain how immigration officers would continue to detain children without breaking the law, Sanders put the onus on lawmakers. "Hopefully Congress will pass a law and fix the problem," she said.
When the reporter doubted whether a law could come together within a few short days, Sanders blithely asked, "Why should it be so hard?" Invoking the statements from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle against child detention, she continued: "Seems like it should be pretty simple to me." Watch the full moment below, via Fox News. Summer Meza
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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
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